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Crime fiction fans have the chance to watch the annual Crime Writers' Association (CWA) Daggers awards live this year, in a ceremony featuring Abir Mukherjee (pictured).
The oldest awards in the genre, the CWA Daggers, are normally revealed at an exclusive event in London. This year, due to Covid-19, it will be hosted virtually on 1st July, from 7.30 p.m.
The evening will be compered by book reviewer, author and journalist Barry Forshaw, who is one of the UK’s leading experts on crime fiction.
Guest speaker is Mukherjee, bestselling author of the Sam Wyndham series of crime novels set in Raj-era India. He won last year’s CWA Sapere Books Historical Dagger for his novel Death in the East, as well as the 2017 Historical Dagger for his debut, A Rising Man, both published by Vintage.
Queen of crime Martina Cole will also feature in the Daggers Live! event as the recipient of the 2021 Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement, the highest honour in British crime writing.
Forshaw said: “Crime books have provided escapism, solace, entertainment and enlightenment throughout the pandemic. As such, we are delighted to honour the talented and diverse authors at work in this enduring genre. The Daggers are an annual highlight in the literary world, and although virtual, we still promise an entertaining evening for these Oscars of the crime genre.”
Shortlisted authors include Robert Galbraith, Elly Griffiths and Chris Whitaker for the CWA Gold Dagger, awarded to the best crime novel of the year.
Tickets are free, but limited and available to book online.
The CWA has also announced the winner of its Margery Allingham Short Mystery Prize, which this year goes to Camilla Macpherson with her tale “Heartbridge Homicides”. She will receive £500 and two passes for the international crime writing convention CrimeFest in 2022.